Presently, user equipment, such as wireless communication devices, communicate with other communication devices using wireless signals, such as within a network environment that can include one or more cells within which various communication connections with the network and other devices operating within the network can be supported. Network environments often involve one or more sets of standards, which each define various aspects of any communication connection being made when using the corresponding standard within the network environment. Examples of developing and/or existing standards include new radio access technology (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), and/or Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE).
While operating within a network, the standard will define the manner in which the user equipment communicates with the network including initiating a new connection or refreshing an existing connection that has somehow become stale, such as for example where synchronization between the user equipment and the network access point has been lost.
As part of a low level acquisition process, when attempting to initiate a connection to a network having a cellular structure, the user equipment can at least sometimes attempt to discover and acquire signaling from each of the nearby cells. This can involve receiving corresponding synchronization signals, which can include a respective primary and a respective secondary synchronization signal. In LTE, acquisition of a primary synchronization signal is initially attempted from which symbol timing and a partial cell identification can be determined. Various determinations of cross-correlations relative to a received signal with each of a predetermined set of synchronization signals can be used to determine the likely partial cell identification, such as the physical layer identity. Further more detailed information can then be determined through a subsequent acquisition of a secondary synchronization signal, including the frame timing, the rest of the cell identity, as well as other potential communication details, such as transmission mode and/or cyclic prefix duration.
The present inventors have recognized, that the manner in which the predetermined set of synchronization signals including the secondary synchronization signals are selected from a list of possible sequences, and are mapped for use to the various cells and the corresponding cell identities can determine the relative ease with which the synchronization signal can be received and distinguished. By limiting which sequences can be used together including defining a mapping rule between a cell identity (ID) and relative cyclic shifts of multiple maximum length sequences, the cross-correlation performance can be enhanced, so that the potential for cell ID confusion during cell detection can be reduced.